Hex Shaft Drive Arbor

ABSTRACT

A drive arbor that allows prior art abrasive pads with threaded backing to be used with impact drills and allows for a more secure connection with other rotary tools than the prior art drive arbors. The preferred embodiment of the drive arbor is an elongated metal shaft with a quick change hex shaft, a shoulder stop with flats for interfacing with a wrench and an externally threaded end for securing onto a prior art backing plate. In an alternative embodiment, the end is not threaded, and a backing plate is molded directly onto the shaft.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

I hereby claim the benefit under Title 35, United States Code Section 119(e) of the United States Provisional Application(s) listed below:

Application No. 61/789441

Filing Date: Mar. 15, 2013

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Non-applicable

THE NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Non-applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Non-applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to surface finishing tools and high speed surface buffing, sanding and grinding. More specifically, the present invention relates to a drive arbor which connects a drill motor or impact motor to the backing plate of commonly used surface sanding, buffing, or grinding pads.

2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98

The following description of the art related to the present invention refers to a number of publications and references. Discussion of such publications herein is given to provide a more complete background of the principles related to the present invention and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are necessarily prior art for patentability determination purposes.

An arbor is a bar, shaft, or axis that holds, turns, or supports a rotating cutting tool or grinding wheel, often having a shank that fits tightly into the spindle of a machine tool. Drive arbors are commonly used in auto detailing and auto body shops as an interface between a drill or other driver and various abrasive pads commonly used in the art. The drill-abrasive pad interface is not limited to use in the automotive context. It can also potentially be used for woodworking, household cleaning, creating metal art and a number of other scenarios.

The prior art arbor is a round shaft threaded on one end that connects to the backing plate of a prior art surface buffing, sanding or grinding pad with a specially designed threaded opening. The rounded end inserts into a standard drill chuck. U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,389 to Hettes contains an example of the prior art drive arbor.

One problem with prior art round shafted drive arbors is that they can only be used with a standard drill chuck. Most standard drills are less than ideal for use with buffing and sanding applications. Most drill motors with the standard drill chuck design are keyless chucks, which are hard to tighten tightly enough to keep the arbor from slipping after extended use. In most drills, the drill motor head extends too far out from the handle to properly control a rotating disc for effective buffing or grinding while exerting pressure on the edge of the disc.

Most standard drill motors will only generate around 1100 RPM, which is barely adequate for surface sanding or buffing. To be effective, most buffing/sanding should be accomplished with a higher RPM than a standard drill motor can provide. Also, buffing/sanding with a drill motor places the surface of the buffing/sanding pad at long distances from the handle, resulting in a high degree of instability and a lack of accuracy.

Prior art grinding pads, such as those used with the present invention and the prior art drive arbors comprise a backing pad with the grinding pad affixed to the front of it.

The back of the backing pad comprises a threaded opening that is capable of threadingly engaging the threaded end of the prior art drive arbors.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Objects, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in part in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The objects, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

An object of the invention is to allow prior art abrasive pads to be used with an impact drill. The invention is designed to be used with a cordless impact motor, which typically uses a one quarter-inch quick-change hex locking chuck. The cordless impact motor gives us up to 2800 RPM, which is much more suitable for buffing and sanding than a standard drill. The impact drill motor is also typically less extended, resulting in the face of the buffing/sanding pad being closer to the handle for greater control and stability. This chuck design will not allow the arbor to slip or fall out.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arbor that is more firmly engaged to the drill or other rotary tool than the prior art arbors. The invention provides a drive arbor with a quick change hex shaft on one end and a threaded end on the other. The quick change hex shaft can be used in a standard drill chuck, but will not slip like a round shaft prior art drive arbor tends to do under pressure.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arbor that is more durable and that causes less wear on the drill than prior art arbors by virtue of the use of a hex shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEW OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

FIG. 1 is an elevational side view of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an elevational side view of the invention at 90 degrees from the position of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the side of the invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded elevational side view of the invention including a prior art abrasive pad and a threaded backing plate.

FIG. 6 is an elevational side view of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The hex shaft drive arbor of the present invention has two primary embodiments comprising an elongated metal device with a hexagonal cross-section (10) at one end, which is designated as the proximal end of the device. The preferred embodiment is an elongated metal device comprising an elongated hexagonal shaft at the proximal end (1) that terminates in a flange-like shoulder stop (3) with an externally threaded (5) distal end (2) depending from the shoulder stop (3). In the preferred embodiment, the shoulder stop (3) comprises recessed flats (4) that allow a wrench to be used for tightening or loosening the arbor's threading with respect to a prior art abrasive pad attached to a threaded backing plate. In other embodiments, the shoulder stop (3) does not have recesses to assist in tightening the drive arbor to the backing plate (6).

The alternative embodiment of the hex shaft drive arbor of the present invention comprises an elongated metal device with a proximal (1) and a distal end (2). The proximal end comprises an elongated hexagonal shaft (1). A backing plate (7) for a prior art abrasive pad (8) is molded onto the distal end (2).

In all embodiments, the hex shaft (10) at the proximal end (1) is preferably a quick-change backing hex shaft, as illustrated in the figures. In the preferred embodiment, the shaft is a ¼″ hex locking shaft. However, other embodiments may use different diameters of shafts for specialized rotary tools. The shaft may comprise a concave recessed area (6) near the proximal end.

In the preferred embodiment the shaft terminates in a shoulder stop (3). The shoulder stop has a flange-shaped body and a flat bottom (9). The flat bottom of the shoulder stop halts rotation of the backing plate (7) further onto the arbor than desirable and aligns and stabilizes the backing plate (7) and, therefore, the abrasive disc (8) on the arbor.

In the preferred embodiment, but not in all embodiments, the shoulder stop further comprises one or more pairs of flat recesses (4). Each pair of flat recesses is located 180 degrees apart on the circumference of the shoulder stop, as is visible in the top view of FIG. 2. The flats (4) are recesses with a linear edge cut out from the flange shape, resulting in flat-backed shelf that is ideal for engaging a wrench. A wrench can be used to tighten and loosen the drive arbor in an internally threaded prior art backing plate (7).

In the preferred embodiment, the threaded distal end (2) depends from the bottom of the shoulder stop. The threads (5) are external. In the preferred embodiment, the threaded end is 0.500 inches in length to match the internal threading depth of the prior art backing pads (7). The threaded end's length can vary depending on intended usage. In the preferred embodiment, the threading is ⅝″-11 UNC. However, the threading can also be 5/16″-18 UNC, ¼″-20 UNC, ⅜″-16 UNC threads per inch and a large range of other standard thread sizes. In some embodiments there may be an unthreaded portion of the shaft between the bottom (9) of the shoulder stop (3) and the beginning of the threading (5).

In the alternative embodiment of the invention, a backing plate (7) is molded onto the distal end (2) of the arbor. This eliminates the need for a shoulder stop (3) and threading (5) on the arbor and on the backing plate (7). Similarly to prior art backing plates, the distal end of the backing plate is capable of engaging an abrasive pad (8) or polishing pad (8) using VELCRO® or equivalent means. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A drive arbor, comprising a unitary, elongated metal shaft, the metal shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end comprising a hex shaft, the hex shaft terminating in a shoulder stop between the proximal end and the distal end, and the distal end being externally threaded.
 2. The drive arbor of claim 1, wherein the distal end comprises ⅝″-11 UNC 5/16″-18 UNC, ¼″-20 UNC, or ⅜″-16 UNC threading.
 3. The drive arbor of claim 1, wherein the hex shaft is a ¼″ hex locking shaft.
 4. The drive arbor of claim 1, wherein the shoulder stop comprises two flat recesses capable of engaging a wrench.
 5. A drive arbor, comprising a unitary, elongated metal shaft, the metal shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end comprising a hex shaft, the hex shaft terminating in a shoulder stop between the proximal end and the distal end, and the distal end being externally threaded, wherein the hex shaft is a ¼″ hex locking shaft, wherein the shoulder stop comprises two flat recesses capable of engaging a wrench.
 6. A drive arbor, comprising a unitary elongated metal shaft and a backing plate, the metal shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end comprising a hex shaft, the distal end comprising the backing plate molded onto the metal shaft. 